I ordered a N900 when my old phone broke. It is coming tomorrow but I can't activate with T-Mobile until next week for the following reason:

I want to keep my phone number so I'll have to cancel my current carrier's account when I sign up for T-Mo. Before I cancel my current carrier I need to get to my voice mails, which I can't do until a new device arrives since my old phone broke. This device is being shipped to me and is expected next week, while the N900 is expected tomorrow, even though both were ordered off Amazon at the same time.

My question is this: When my N900 arrives tomorrow, not activated with T-Mo, will I be able to use the WiFi ability with my home wireless internet connection and get online?

Thanks for any help. I have been with Verizon for over a decade so I have forgotten how SIM cards work, etc or if it's needed prior to the N900 functioning. Ideally I'd like to get the N900 set up, enter phone numbers, download Docs to Go, etc even if I can't use the phone function yet until activating with T-Mo.

Yes, the cellular function on the N900 does not ever have to be used if you don't want to. Everything else works fine.

AS lance said, your phone will work perfectly fine even if you do not have the sim in the phone. Think of it as, you need the sim to enable connectivity with Tmobile. Your device has multiple ways of enabling talk feature (through sim, skype, google talk, ...). You can still use it as a phone enabling wifi+(skype/google voice/..).

I switched from AT&T to T-mobile when I got my N900, but not for about a week. I popped my at&t sim into the N900 and it worked with no problems. You can't do that with verizon, but you should be able to turn it on and use it with just wifi. If it makes you feel better about it, I did the same thing with my old AT&T phone the other day...I fired it up without a sim in it and used it with wifi.

If you use skype, you will even be able to make calls on your n900.

As for your dilemma, why not either:
1. just call the land-line number for verizon to get your voice mail messages
2. Go to a verizon store, put your sim in a phone there, and listen to your messages

Why wait?

Thanks everyone. That's good news. I am expecting my N900 to arrive tomorrow.

@ rmerren: I need to record, not just check, some voice messages onto my computer, and I need a USB sound card with a mic-in and level-in switch, because recording from my phone directly into my lap top's mic input overloads the built-in mic-in. I ordered a USB sound card and it's on its way but arrives at the end of the week while my N900 arrives tomorrow. Also, Verizon doesn't use SIM cards so I don't have one.

Thanks again everyone!

For future reference, there is no SIM card on CDMA-based phones (i.e. phones from Verizon, Sprint, Alltel, MetroPCS, etc.). In any case, I have the n900 sitting on my desk right now without a SIM card inserted. It works perfectly fine on my wifi network. I will be ordering up a data-only SIM card in about two weeks for road testing. If you are interested in what I'm doing, here's my post: http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=43723